To be honest, there is little hope the release of this news will garner the same excitement now as it would have back in 2008. It has been hoped that Nokia would make a resurgence in the US market and grace us with their phones that are still sleek, modern and generally pretty damn durable. It’s been whispered to us that the Nokia E73 will make a T-Mobile appearance sometime in June. The force is strong with this whisper so we’re willing to take the gamble and put this one in the rumor but likely category. Details regarding the specs on the E73 remain a totally mystery, though I’m sure we can expect it to run some form of Symbian.

While it’s nice to see Nokia get back in the T-Mobile game, is it too late? Have Android, Blackberry and the coming resurgence of Windows Phone 7 all but eliminated the chances of a Nokia resurrecting itself? What say you?

About David Beren

David is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TmoNews.com. He considers himself a Jedi Knight, capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound and a connoisseur of fine cell phones. He has been involved in the wireless industry since 2003 and has been known to swap out phones far too many times in any given year. Should you wish to contact him, you can do so: david@tmonews.com.

I don’t see Nokia ever being a major competitor in the U.S. smartphone market. There’s just no room. Even BlackBerry and WinMo are starting to look like Windows 3.1 in a Windows 7 world. Not that they’re bad (neither is Nokia), they just aren’t innovating fast enough to keep up with the pace set by Android, and they don’t look good enough to stand next to the iPhone. Win Phone 7 is a strong move to regain lost ground, and both MSFT and RIM have a strong footing in the business market, but Nokia doesn’t even have that advantage.

ItsMichaelNotMike

Good points Brandon. I agree about Nokia and especially agree that MS is making strong moves toward recovery and reestablishing itself as a major player in the smartphone and super phone arena.

A great combo is HTC handsets coupled with Windows Phone OS or Android.

I watched HTC’s MWC presentation and was super impressed with HTC’s upcoming lineup.

Here is the video, I recommend people watch it and listen to what HTC is saying. I predict HTC will become the maker of the best handsets in the world. I mean anyone who makes a phone body out of a solid block of aluminum has my vote.

tortionist

You guys are way off base about Nokia. Nokia has teamed up with a University in England to develop the world’s first nanophone that morphs. It’s due out in 7 years. They will rule the world until someone figures out their technology, which would a take a few years at least. Look towards Nokia as the future.

phonegeek

if the os is comparable to the blackberry… then MAYBE is the word but this phone is going to have to turn heads as far as that goes .. so in this case not likely BUT … you’d have one strong phone they’ve always been pretty durable i still have mine from when i was in 7th grade…..ive been in college for 3 yrs now…

T-MoMike

ugly.

Dpmt

When was the Mystic confirmed as the E73?

Grey Ocelot

i would love to see this this on T-mo im already using an unlocked E-71 its the best phone ive ever had.

David Vargas

That’s not the E73. Thats one of the new phones off their yet to be released C-series line.

Mog

Yes, Symbian seems to be having trouble keeping up with OS X, Android, or webOS (I’d argue BlackBerry OS is too, and that will catch up to RIM). But it is still the most popular smartphone OS in the world, and it’s growing (its share is shrinking, but that reflects an expansion of the overall smartphone market, not a shrinking of Symbian). It’s also almost totally absent from the US market. I say T-Mobile should go ahead — the E71 and E72 were awesome phones, and it’d be a good opportunity for T-Mobile to offer something different that almost nobody else is. It’s not like it necessarily comes at the cost of another platform’s smartphone or anything (and even if it did, I’d rather see T-Mobile pick up an E73 rather than yet another Dash). Nokia might not be quite making a “resurgence,” but I’m sure their free navigation offer will help them in the US market, and Symbian seems primed for at least a small comeback with Symbian^3.

I actually wish T-Mobile was getting phones like the X6 instead of the Nuron, though of course they’d likely be more expensive. Still, why not both? T-Mobile can position itself as the carrier of Choice: Symbian, Android, BlackBerry, webOS, take your pick. I think we could sacrifice a few Samsung dumbphones, no?

Tim

Absolutely agree…. We can DEFINITELY sacrifice a few Samsung dumbphones, lol. I might be biased since I’ve been using Nokia phones for over 10 yrs. But the build quality and reliability is unmatched by any other company I’ve used (SE, Samsung, LG and Apple)
Was really hoping T-Mo would get either the n97 mini or n900.

Jim

Such old news!!! Nokia is a thing of the past and should either get out of the Mobile game or step up to the changes in wireless they have refused to migrate to.

There products just don’t cut it anymore!!!

essdee09

I dunno … I’ll be looking for a smartphone when I move to T-Mo this summer. The options:

- Google, whom I don’t quite trust — “Do no evil” indeed;
- iPhone, which is fairly expensive for a “want” since no one but at&t sells it subsidized;
- Maemo, which will have a tougher time getting into the game than Nokia itself; and
- Windows Mobile, which is an also-ran in its present incarnation — and Windows Phone, which likely will be too new to rely upon;

Which leaves Symbian with a smartphone which is built pretty well, comes with some decent features (including free navi), and has a decent mobile OS. I sure would look hard at an E73 if it were in the lineup when I get my next phone.

shawn1224

Don’t forget Samsung Bada the new OS platform in town. Supposedly it’s coming to a majority of Samsung devices for the 2010 calendar year already armed out the box with multitouch, flash support, 3G gaming and advanced social networking integration. If you couple that with Samsung’s new SUPER AMOLED display, this could definitely bring in a new wave of smartphone capability.

xinjii

clearly not an eseries device. i beleive this is the c-06 (kinda like the c-5 but with a qwerty)

http://TMONEWS.COM Uchenna

iT WOULD BE AWESOME IF TMOBILE CARRY THIS PHONE, I CURRENTLY HAVE NOKIA E71 AND ITS AWESOME. i SEE MYSELF BUYING ONE!!

http://www.mobilegator.com dingo

Nokia has two problems:
1) they do not seem to be able to market their phones well in the US.
2) the Symbian OS

While these two problems are not un-solvable, whether Nokia will actually find solutions to them is another matter. I’m not anti-Nokia. I had a E63 and absolutely loved it, and still think the whole E-series is under-rated and under-appreciated, especially in the US (but a lot of that has to do with Nokia’s marketing blunders in the US).

The Symbian OS is not bad, but it there is some learning curve involved. By comparison to Symbian phones, it is a lot easier to install apps (and do all sorts of other things) on the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android phones. Making Symbian open source will not solve the problems inherent in the OS.

Outside of the US Nokia does pretty well, and there are a lot of Symbian phones out there. People who want an iPhone will get one, but for those who want a full QWERTY keyboard, Nokia phones are up there with BlackBerry and Android QWERTYs. If only they could make the Symbian OS less of a hassle.

FILA

I love NOKIA, but Im addicted to Android. I wish NOKIA would just sign with Android to make a phone, can you imagine that killer, holy hell. Only thing Symbian and NOKIA really has goin for it now is the free Ovi Maps, that you can use offline, which is really freaking cool. Thou one day google will most likely allow you to do it on Android. I love you Nokia, Im one of the biggest fans, but without Android, Symbian just isnt a big market. Except maybe business people.

tdiggitydog

the E71 was FANTASTIC. One of the best smartphone form factors. Lack of T-mobile 3g, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a cheesy looking OS hurt it significantly. That being said, i LOVE the E71 and if there is an E73 on T-Mobile 3G you bet I will be on board. I use android and can’t imagine not having an android phone (considering how google centric my life is) but once in a while i want a slim, qwerty phone without having to use blackberry.

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